My First Priest

[Baronovan]

I've never leveled one of these before and I had a few questions:

1) I have four heirloom pieces plus the Fast Track perk. Will my leveling outpace my ability to rank up my gathering skills? I'm guessing yes, but looking or community feedback/anecdotal evidence.

2) If I spec Shadow early on and later dual-spec into Disc, is there going to be a conflict with reforged gear? I know with my Rogue, I have to reforge toward different stats based on the spec I'm looking at (Haste and Mastery for Assassination, Expertise and Hit for Combat). Point being, if I switch specs, my performance hinges on the spec for which my gear has been reforged. Will I experience anything like this as a priest? Elitist Jerks write-ups are pretty vague on how to reforge for each spec.

Thanks!

[Deleted]

1) no idea

2) yes, shadow wants haste - > mastery I believe, atleast haste as #1, disc however has haste as its least valued stat.

[Deleted]

1: Leveling your gathering skills always takes extra time away from lvling. and for sure if you want to gather enough to provide the leveling of your crafting skill. but just make some free time for it.. its way better to level profs while leveling then having to do them on lvl 85.

2. Reforging gear you wear while lvling? : / gold waste? and further... just get 2 sets.

[Arlee]

1) Yes I have found it really hard to keep up my gathering skills at the same level as I am leveling (except skinning) unless I focus on them. Herb is a little less of a pain than mining though from what I have seen (this also depends on what zone you happen to be leveling in and if you are doing very many dungeons/bgs). The more often you do dungeons and bgs the easier it is for your level to get way ahead of your gathering professions.

2) Yes disc and shadow have different stat priorities. However, these should not really come into play because you can't even get mastery on gear until 80+ and that is about when you learn the mastery ability as well (which allows you to benefit from the mastery stat). Before then all priests mostly just want int and the other stuff are bonuses.

[Baronovan]

Thanks for the replies.

I figure I'll have to set aside time to level my gathering profs and just keep my nose to the grindstone on that.

Insofar as reforging - no, I wouldn't reforge until I hit the cap, but the class pages are generally vague on where the priorities are, so thanks to Sun...twat... for pointing out some differences between the specs. :P

[Arlee]

Oh I also meant to say for more information about the different specs while leveling you can check out this http://www.howtopriest.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=168

Also, since you are new to the priest class if you see anything that isn't in there that might be helpful please let me know

[mookspal]

1) no idea

2) yes, shadow wants haste - > mastery I believe, atleast haste as #1, disc however has haste as its least valued stat.

I hope you meant to say Mastery > haste for disc and not that haste is the "least valued stat." Because that would be incorrect. The correct answer would be to favor mastery over haste but do no completely neglect haste. After you reach the "soft cap" on haste its a personal preference on how much haste you have. Being able to cast spells faster is always good, but you do not want to find yourself going oom. Another option for leveling would be to go holy/ shadow since both spec's ( at 85) favor haste over mastery. Not sure how this plays out in lower levels but this is a FACT at level 85.



Good day.

[Deleted]

I hope you meant to say Mastery > haste for disc and not that haste is the "least valued stat." Because that would be incorrect. The correct answer would be to favor mastery over haste but do no completely neglect haste. After you reach the "soft cap" on haste its a personal preference on how much haste you have. Being able to cast spells faster is always good, but you do not want to find yourself going oom. Another option for leveling would be to go holy/ shadow since both spec's ( at 85) favor haste over mastery. Not sure how this plays out in lower levels but this is a FACT at level 85.



Good day.

I hope you meant to say that it depends on your role in the raid. If you are shield spamming why would you want haste?
And stating something as a fact, like holy HST > MST without backing it up is stupid. Esp. since it's not true, for shadow I'd agree however.

[luckybeer]

How to level a priest:

1. get heirloom items
2. spec shadow (literally just throw points around, it doesn't matter. you're bound to put a point into something you need eventually)
3. quest/kill stuff
4. dispersion
5. quest/kill stuff

don't waste gold on leveling. you should get to 85 with over 5000 gold ready to spend on epic flight and other things

[Arlee]

I hope you meant to say that it depends on your role in the raid. If you are shield spamming why would you want haste?
And stating something as a fact, like holy HST > MST without backing it up is stupid. Esp. since it's not true, for shadow I'd agree however.

Erm well since the thread is about leveling a priest this point is sort of moot.

[Deleted]

I'm levelling an Spriest too, and loving it, and Cata has brought some very nice things (earlier Shadowform, Shadow orbs, etc).

1) It depends, are you going to level by questing, or by dungeons? If questing, you'll constantly find nodes around (especially for herb/mining, for Skinning you just need to take as many kill-beast quests as possible.) If by dungeons, I'd recommend you sign up as DPS, take the 5-15 min wait for a dungeon to level your gathering skills, don't just wait in Stormwind/Orgrimmar.

2)This would matter much less until level 80-85, and by then I'm sure you'd have a grip on the class. Some advice I can give: a) Don't worry about getting too much Spirit when leveling as shadow, it increases your spell hit with a talent. b) Talentwise, take whatever helps you either soloing or in dungeons at lower levels where healers aren't as attentive, don't take whatever fills up an EJ level 85 raiding spec, same for talents.

[mookspal]

I hope you meant to say that it depends on your role in the raid. If you are shield spamming why would you want haste?
And stating something as a fact, like holy HST > MST without backing it up is stupid. Esp. since it's not true, for shadow I'd agree however.

I am not arguing with anyone who says "shield spamming." But you are wrong and a hypocrite (where are your facts).

That is all.

[Deleted]

Erm well since the thread is about leveling a priest this point is sort of moot.

The quote I cited was off topic, and so was my answer. Speaking about rating priorities when leveling is just useless. Speaking about possible performance issues between gear for shadow and disc while leveling is useless. For 85 raid content you don't want to be using the same gear no matter(some items work, most don't).

I am not arguing with anyone who says "shield spamming." But you are wrong and a hypocrite (where are your facts).

That is all.

I wasn't the one claiming HST > MST for holy, hence I don't have to provide any facts. You claimed it and showed none.

On topic:
1. Yes.
2. At 85 yes, at any other level, it doesn't matter. Read:
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...e-(by-Newnoise)
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...e-Priest-Guide

[Lujanera]

I've been leveling up another (disc) priest lately using heirlooms. Here are a few thoughts from my experience:

1) With heirlooms and some experience playing wow under your belt, you will be wildly overpowered. Until somewhere around level 40, you will be able to (if you want) rip aggro and tank most bosses. While healing the group and putting out top dps. So don't worry about having the right stats or spec.
2) Most stuff dies before your dots expire. Dots are great on bosses, but otherwise you may want to stick mostly with direct damage spells.
3) A little bit of spirit helps a lot. I found I had a huge mana pool that took a long time to empty, but it also took a long time to fill back up. Drinking water doesn't help much because the amount of mana restored is small relative to your mana pool size. Spirit scales pretty well at lower levels, so pick up a few points if you find you are running out.
4) Invest in the best enchants for your heirlooms. The heirloom staff with +22 int is a massive boost to damage/healing at low levels. There isn't anything especially good for cloaks, but +70 armor offers some utility if you pvp.
5) Don't do too many LFD runs in a row. It will slowly wear away your faith in humanity.
6) Gear with, I believe, ilevel <200 cannot be reforged. So don't worry about that until much later.
7) I don't know a lot about shadow, but it's possible that disc offers better dps at low levels thanks to Twin Disciplines and Penance. YMMV.

[Arlee]

Speaking about possible performance issues between gear for shadow and disc while leveling is useless.

I think it is a valid question for someone to wonder if they use the same gear for shadow and dic/holy while leveling if it will work. It's also completely valid to wonder what the difference between lvl'ing each is. There are real differences especially now that they have allowed every class to get the key abilities much earlier than before. Not mention if you are thinking about leveling a lot in dungeons it is a little bit easier if you are a healer than a dps.

[Baronovan]

I got her up to 14th before the patch shut down my server this morning, and I switched to Disc last night after reading the Twin Disciplines talent.
So far, stuff is dropping like flies and I never seem to take any damage.
Once I hit 20 or so, I'll start LFD and gathering in the queue. Once CTA hits live, my rogue should pull in more JP and, since all he needs now is valor and raid gear, I'll be sending her more BOA stuff, like the trinkets or the staff.

All in all, thanks for the wide-ranging advice here. I'm thinking that I can use Disc to heal in LFD and still kinda whump some skulls out in the environment while I'm gathering metal and herbs for the AH.

[Deleted]

I think it is a valid question for someone to wonder if they use the same gear for shadow and dic/holy while leveling if it will work. It's also completely valid to wonder what the difference between lvl'ing each is. There are real differences especially now that they have allowed every class to get the key abilities much earlier than before. Not mention if you are thinking about leveling a lot in dungeons it is a little bit easier if you are a healer than a dps.

That's true. Speaking about shadow performance while leveling most of the time is "utter crap" due to the aoe nature of instances and crap aoe of shadow (multi dotting at low level is even worse than at 85). But putting time and focus on pre-85 performance feels unnecessary, atleast to me. Doing this at 85 however is more than welcome

[Wizler]

Herbs are more plentifull than ever before and it goes pretty quickly. I think I hit 300 herbs at 42 on my mage... ok maybe I went out of my way a few times to skill up herbalism. Mining takes a little more work.

You could also go Disc until you get dual spec. It works fine as a questing/dps spec (especially in a pvp environment you will be godly) and you can also heal dungeons.

[Arlee]

Absolutely Wab. That is actually why I made a beginning priest guide on HowToPriest.com. Often the lvl 85 guides (while extremely helpful at max level) are not helpful at all for leveling a priest. The mindset and focus are a good bit different, not mention I have seen more people take talents in something that they can't even use yet because they were following a raiding spec.

Btw, I love the "Cho'gall Deaded" pic on your guild's website. That is pretty awesome

[Deleted]

Absolutely Wab. That is actually why I made a beginning priest guide on HowToPriest.com. Often the lvl 85 guides (while extremely helpful at max level) are not helpful at all for leveling a priest. The mindset and focus are a good bit different, not mention I have seen more people take talents in something that they can't even use yet because they were following a raiding spec.

Btw, I love the "Cho'gall Deaded" pic on your guild's website. That is pretty awesome

Thanks, I'll make sure to tell our graphics designer that, it'll make him happy

Keep up the good work with howtopriest.